3D Printed Top Load NES Mod – Part Two

In the previous post, we left with just a teaser of our slot mechanism to combat the dreaded blinking red light problem for the NES. There are a few other options available to help with this problem, but this will be just another tool in our arsenal. I was feeling good about the slot, but filled with trepidation when thinking about the overall case and how it might fit once printed. Anyone who prints technical parts is probably familiar with this feeling, or they’re much better modelers and 3D printers(ists?) than I am (setting the bar pretty low here).

After several very long prints, I’m happy to say that I’m having very little trouble with alignment. The parts appear to be lining up pretty well. I’ve had to make a few minor adjustments and definitely expect to make more. You can spin a model around a hundred times and still find something wrong with it on the 101st twirl.

Ever sit and watch the layers stack up…

Iterations and improvements to the NES console mod will come as I have time to put it to use. Feedback and criticism is always welcome. So far, I’m pretty satisfied with how this is unfolding.

Strange sight, but I like it

Not having to move screw-posts around by fractions of a millimeter for two hours left a lot of time to put into other improvements. The immediate thing I noticed was how boring this top load mod looked. The original NES has a flap and an 1980s-appropriate louver-like design along the top. There’s a lot going on up there. Perpendicular horizontal lines aren’t exactly interesting, so I decided to go in a slightly different direction. I wanted to keep the original stripe placement to match up with the bottom and to preserve some resemblance to the OG design. We threw out the stripes, though, and replaced it with a hexagonal pattern to make it look futuristic. Back in the 80s, the NES was the future (and any future was/is better than this one).

Would it go any faster if we put flames on it?

I’m still in the process of printing and perfecting the final top load mod parts. Once the fit is good and locked in – and I’m confident in the supports – I can move on to the fun part of re-soldering the 72-pin connector. Unfortunately, I don’t have a robot for that. We’re moving at a good pace and should have the STL files for the NES console mod available soon.